Peanut harvester



Nov. 20, 1945. J. T. THORNTON PEANUT HARVESTER Filed May 28, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' IN V EN TOR.

Nov. 20, 1945. J. T. THORNTON PEANUT HARVESTER Filed May 28, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 'IN VEN TOR.

Nov. 20, 1945.v J. T. THORNTON PEANUT HARVESTER Filed May 28, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 20, 1945 ICE PEANUT HARVESTER John T. Thornton, Parrott, Ga. Application May as, 1945, Serial No. 596,183

3 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for harvesting peanuts and is a continuation inpart of an application filed by me on July 20, 1944, Serial Number 545,817, one of the objects being to provide a machine which can be connected to the rear of a tractor and can be operated by the power take-off of the tractor while the machine is being pulled forwardly.

A further object is to provide a harvesting machine which will pick up the vines after they have been plowed up by the tractor, will dislodge dirt from the peanuts, convey the vines and peanuts upwardly, deposit the material on a rack, and subsequently dump it at desired points.

A still further object'is to provide a mechanism of this character requiring the services of only one man who not only drives the tractor but also controls the action of the harvester.

Another object is to provide a means whereby,

due to natural vibrations set up by the machine while in motion, the separation of dirt fromthe peanuts is expedited.

With the foregoing and other objects in view I which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the harvester, a portion of the tractor to which it is attached being shown, parts being broken away.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1, a portion being broken away.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation, parts being broken away. i

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, T designates a portion of a tractor used for plowing up the peanut vines by the use of suitable means connected thereto for that purpose and which constitutes no part of the present invention. The rear axle of the tractor has been indicated at A and carries a power take-off P to be driven by the motor of the tractor at the will of the operator and by the means commonly employed. 7

A frame I is located between the rear wheels of the tractor and can be secured to the axle housing flange 2. Extending backwardly from the lower portion of the frame I are the rails 3 constituting the base of the frame of the attachment, it being understood that these bars 3 are adjacent to the wheels of the tractor so that the entire attachment. will be of such width as to pick up vines plowed up by a gang of plows used for that purpose. The frame is also provided with to bars 4 extending rearwardly and upwardly and with upper side bars 5. Posts Bare extended upwardly from the back ends of the bottom rails 3 and intermediate rails l which are secured to the flanges 2 and frame members I, are extended rearwardly and upwardly and are suitably braced, as indicated at 8.

Located between and secured to the respective bars 3 are the upwardly and rearwardly inclined side bars 9 of an elevator.. The lower ends of these side bars are secured to lower side strips Ill the rear ends of which are joined by braces H to the respective posts 6. The forward ends of these side strips [0 are attached to the side boards or shields l2 of the elevator which, in turn, are attached to the side bars 3 and 5 of the frame of the attachment.

A transverse shaft I3 is journalled in the upper end portions of the side bars 9 and another transverse shaft l4 isjournalled in the lower end portions of these bars. Both of these shafts carry sprockets, the lower shaft being provided with sprockets 15 while the upper shaft [3 is provided with larger sprockets Hi. The endless chains ll of an elevator are mounted on the upper and lower sprockets and are connected by parallel transverse bars [8 which are regularly spaced one from the other. To each of these bars is secured a longitudinal series of pick-up fingers [9. These fingers have slight enlargements IE1 at their free ends and are located at the rear edges of the advancing bars [8. If desired, each finger can include an integral spring 'coil 20'whereby a certain amount of resiliency is provided where the fingers meet with unyielding obstructions.

Supported between the inclined rear edges of shields l2 and along lines substantially parallel with the forward inclined flight of the endless carrier formed by 'chains I1 and their connections, is a guide 2| which can be formed of a longitudinally slotted plate or of spaced strips of material joined together at their ends. This guide has the slots 2|. therein-located where the pick-up fingers l9jcan travel within them and the lower end of the guide is curved downwardly and rearwardly along lines substantially concentric withshaft I4 and is then extended rearwardly to the back ends of the strips ll where it is secured and where it is outside of the oath of the fingers as will be apparent by referring to Fig. 1.

Those portions of the guide or strips located between the pick-up fingers are of thin sheet metal and thus constitute vibratory elements which will be vibrated when the machine moves over the surface of the ground.

The upper end of the guide 2| is extended along curved lines upwardly, backwardly and downwardly over the shaft 13 and gradually leaves the path of the fingers l9 so that they can move out of the slots in the guide as they begin to move downwardly from their uppermost positions.

Likewise the slots in the lower end of this. guide are located so that the descending fingers l9can move into them as they approach the lower. end

of the carrier. This upper arcuate portion of the guide, by reason of its particular arrangement and shape, constitutes a stripper which has been designated at 22 so that material riding along the guide 21 under the impulse imparted to it by the ascending fingers 19, will gradually be moved outwardlyalongthe fingers as they move over shaft 13 and downwardly relative thereto until ultimately'the-fingers are completely withdrawn from the material and said material is free to fall downwardly ofl'of the rear end'of the stripper 22.

The side board-of shields l2'have their upper ends curvedrearwardly and downwardly following the general contour of the stripper 22 and the upperarcuate portions of these boards or.

shields are connectedbyan arcuate top plate 23 whereby material -is 'prevented-fi'ombeing thrown upwardly'and outwardly and must of necessity follow the curved path defined by stripper 22, plate- 23, and the arcuate portions 24 of the side boards or shields.

As shownin-Fig; 1 the upper end'portion of the guide 2'! is attached toth'e upper end of the 1 st 6';

It will be noted-that thebars 3and4 are pivotally connected to the frame members I as shown at 25. Therefore it is possible for the structure 'carried'by the bars 3and4'to be moved upwardly and downwardly relative t the tractor for'th'e purpose of bringing the pick-up carrier to a desired-level above the surface of the ground, This adjustment can be effected by means of threaded rods 26pivotally joined at their lower ends to the side-bars of the carrier and slidably mounted adjacent their upper ends in'the intermediate bars I: By means of nuts 21 on'the rods; longitudinal adjustment ofthe rods can be effected and, consequently, a corresponding adjustment of'th'e-harvesting attachment can be effected;

Mounted onthe frame member I is a' shaft housing 28 extending transversely of the attachmerit and-including a gear-case 29. Sprockets 30 are mounted on the ends of the shaft 3| in housing 28 and another sprocket 32 is mounted on the gear case andis adapted to transmit motion through suitable gears in the case 2'9-to the shaft 3|. Sprocket 32 receives its motion through a chain 33 fromthe power take-off sprocket T heretofore-referred to.

The sprockets 30 operate chains which drive sprockets 35 onzthe shaft 13 so that by couphng the power take-off? to'the tractor motor, mo-

tion can be transmitted therefrom to chain 33, sprockets 32, shaft 31 and chains to the elevator so'that the fingers willbe caused to move inthe direction indicated by the arrows in Fig: 1.

Aworm gear 36 is secured to shaft l3*and'en-'- gages and rotates a-worm 31-carriedby the upper end of a shaft 38 which is journalled in suitable bearings provided therefor as indicated at 39, and has a worm 40 secured to its lower end. This worm, in turn, engages a worm wheel 4| mounted for rotation on the stud 42. A cam 43 is joined to and rotates with the worm gear 4| and has its periphery normally engaged by a roller 44. This roller is carried by an arm 45 extended forwardly from a dump rack 46 which is pivotally mounted in the frame of the harvester asindicated at 41. As long as the roller 44 i in contact with the arcuate peripheral portion of the cam 43, as shown in Fig. l, the dump rack 46 will be maintained in a substantially horizontal position directly under the outlet 48 from which elevated material is discharged so that said material thus can drop onto and pile upon the rack. Once duringeach rotation of the cam 43, however, a recess-49- in the periphery of the cam will be brought to position over the roller 44 so that said roller can-thus swing upwardly, allowingthe rack 46" to dumpits contents: As the rotation of the cam continues, the roller 44" will be pushed'downwardly and therack restored to its initial position.

It isbelievedthatthe operation of this attachmentwill be' apparentfrom the foregoing description. As before explained; motion can be transmitted to the carrier. so as to drive the fingers 19in the direction indicated by the arrows. Thus as the fingerssweep forwardly andupwardly at the lower end ofthe carrier, they will engage the vines which have beenplowed. up by'the'plows ordinarily joined tothe tractor. and after they have been picked up, theywill be carried upwardly along theguide 2| and between-the boards or shields I2; Thepartsare so geared that this upward movement of the fingers will be at a speed somewhat greater than the forward movement of the tractor so that there wlll'be noclogging of'the elevator atits' base but all of'the vines supplied thereto will be carried'off as-fast as they reach the elevator.

The fingers will carry the vinesupwardly along the-guides and over the stripper 2-2 which will act, as before explained, to pull' the vines off'of the fingers after which theywillbe'd'elivered through the outlet 48 andonto the rack. w

As these guides are unsupported, except at their ends and-as they are of slotted'sheet metal of a thinness permitting flexibility, or of spaced strips or slats, of similar materialproviding slots therebetween, it is obvious-that they are free to vibrate and, as the machine operates during its movement over the surface of the ground; the motionof the machine will causethese guidesto vibrate naturally and" effect arapid separation of dirt fromthe peanuts as the material moves upwardly along the guides-.-

During this'opera-tion the-cam 43 is'being-rotated slowly and after a predetermined time interval, the cam will release the rack to dump its contents and' then restore the rack to its initial or load-supporting position. This oper operator can confine his attentionto-theoperationof the tractor and plows carried-thereby;

To prevent the fingers from becoming caught in the guide where they enter the sameadjacent to-its lower end, it-is-preferredto widen'thelower end'sof. the sl0ts-49 in theguide 21 as shown-at 5D in'Fig; 3, these=slots gradually increasing in width toward their rear ends so that the fingers can enter them freely.

By providing enlargements I9 on the fingers l9 they act more efficiently and pick up the vegetation from the ground because the tendency to withdraw from the vegetation is reduced.

What is claimed is:

1. In a peanut harvester the combination with a movably supported structure and means for propelling the structure over the surface of the ground, of an inclined endless carrier mounted in said structure, pickup fingers extending from the carrier, a guide formed of flexible sheet material anchored at its ends back of the upper and lower portions respectively of the carrier and having intermediate portions extending over and under the carrier and upwardly along the advancing portion of the carrier, means, for actuating the carrier to move the advancing portion upwardly to elevate material along the guide, said guide having slots extending lengthwise thereof for th reception of the fingers and said guide wardly with the conveyor, means for actuating the conveyor during the movement of the machine over the surface of the ground, a guide spaced from and substantially parallel with the elevating portion of the conveyor and having longitudinal slots through which the fingers extend, said guide constituting a support for material to be separated, the upper and lower ends of the guide being extended over and under the conveyor and fixedly anchored at their terminals, said guide being of sheet material of such thinness as to vibrate naturally during the movement of the machine over its supporting surface, thereby to efiect separation of materials being elevated by the carrier, the upper and lower portions of the guide being extended rearwardly away from the carrier toward the anchored terminal, the upper portion of said guide constituting a stripping means.

3. A machine for harvesting peanuts or the like including .a movably supported structure, an inclined conveyor carried thereby, having material engaging fingers extending therefrom, means for actuating the conveyor to elevate material engaged by the fingers, and a guide overlying and substantially parallel with the material elevating portion of the conveyor, said guide having slots through which the fingers extend, the guide being fixedly anchored at its ends and being of such thickness and flexibility as to vibrate naturally when the machine is in motion over a supporting surface.

JOHN T. THORNTON. 

